John Harbison, one of America’s most renowned composers, is also an accomplished jazz musician. Harbison’s setting of classic old American folk tunes, Songs America Loves to Sing, becomes the springboard for new instrumental songs by Philadelphia composers Uri Caine, James Primosch, Terell Stafford, Anna Weesner and Bobby Zankel, who layer jazz and classical traditions to create works that tell America’s story with today’s voices.
We’ll close the performance with a jazz improv session featuring Harbison himself, a gifted jazz pianist, with guest artist Terell Stafford, trumpet, and jazz musicians from Temple University.